Passion and interest on baking had initated this blog. We are big boys who explore the world of cakes and gateaux and love to share them with you.

Monday, January 28, 2008

Lemon Meringue Tartlets

January 2008 DARING BAKERS CHALLENGE

Gosh.....this is my first challenge in my life . . . . lol! especially with the daring bakers. Why now? and not before?. . . well I have notice the daring bakers but I alway assume this event is for beautiful ladies . . . . I am sure you know what I mean. But truely after reading baking blogs reviews one after another, I decided to try this challenge basically to overcome my fears, trust me, I am saying this out from my heart . . . . my fears. Well I got this challenge done and straight I went and get it posted before the day becomes 29. I guess I had made it! A pat on my shoulder. I hope you will like my lemon meringue tartlets.

For the Crust: Make sure all ingredients are as cold as possible. Using a food processor or pastry cutter and a large bowl, combine the butter, flour, sugar and salt. Process or cut in until the mixture resembles coarse meal and begins to clump together. Sprinkle with water, let rest 30 seconds and then either process very briefly or cut in with about 15 strokes of the pastry cutter, just until the dough begins to stick together and come away from the sides of the bowl. Turn onto a lightly floured work surface and press together to form a disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for at least 20 minutes.

To roll out tartlet dough, slice the dough into 6 pieces. On lightly floured surface, roll each circle of dough into a 5 inch disk. Stack the disks, separated by pieces of plastic wrap, on a plate, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.To bake the dough, position rack in oven to the centre of oven and preheat to 350ºF (180ºC). Place the disks of dough, evenly spaced, on a baking sheet and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden brown. Cool completely.

To finish tartlets, first place oven rack in the upper third of the oven and increase heat to 425ºF.

Divide the lemon filling equally among the disks, mounding it in the centre and leaving a 1-inch border all the way around.Spoon the meringue decoratively over each tartlet, right to the edges, in dramatic swirling peaks. Return tartlets to oven and bake for about 5 minutes, until the meringue is golden brown.

Preheat oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Line the crust with foil and fill with metal pie weights or dried beans. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Carefully remove the foil and continue baking for 10 to 15 minutes, until golden. Cool completely before filling.

For the Filling: Bring the water to a boil in a large, heavy saucepan. Remove from the heat and let rest 5 minutes. Whisk the sugar and cornstarch together. Add the mixture gradually to the hot water, whisking until completely incorporated.

Return to the heat and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly until the mixture comes to a boil. The mixture will be very thick. Add about 1 cup (240 mL) of the hot mixture to the beaten egg yolks, whisking until smooth. Whisking vigorously, add the warmed yolks to the pot and continue cooking, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil. Remove from the heat and stir in butter until incorporated. Add the lemon juice, zest and vanilla, stirring until combined. Pour into the prepared crust. Cover with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming on the surface, and cool to room temperature.

For the Meringue: Preheat the oven to 375ºF (190ºC). Using an electric mixer beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar, salt and vanilla extract until soft peaks form. Add the sugar gradually, beating until it forms stiff, glossy peaks. Pile onto the cooled pie, bringing the meringue all the way over to the edge of the crust to seal it completely. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden. Cool on a rack. Serve within 6 hours to avoid a soggy crust.

I am now very hungry waiting for my next challenge, as fears had been overcome!

Your little tarts are stunning. I love the different designs you have used for piping on your meringue. Its great how much filling you were able to fit in, best part I reckon. Well done on your first challange!

Your little tarts are stunning. I love the different designs you have used for piping on your meringue. Its great how much filling you were able to fit in, best part I reckon. Well done on your first challange!

Congratulation on your Daring Baker Challenge!!! You are just too professional to me... but your words touched my heart :) "Over come the Fear" and Bake from Heart ~ so these are the fruitful tartlets :)

Wonderful Sunny! And welcome to the Daring Bakers. I think that you are an expert baker so I am not surprised that your tartlets turned out so gorgeous. Very nice piping of the meringues. Did you use a blow torch to brown the meringues? I bet I won't be able to stop at just eating one!

Your tartlet looks good! I love how densed they are too, feel like sinking my teeth into them to tear the denseness away :-) Good luck on your first participation, keep it coming because can't wait to see what other goodies you bringing on!

Congrats on your first challenge! And nice job. Looks like you had quite a bit of fun with your tarts. Those cross sections are to completely DIE for, even after looking at umpteen gazillion pies. Excellent work. Now -- on to the next one!